Just when you think everything has finally come together, it turns out I have to get more paper work done and have to wait... some more...
So I have been waiting at home for my Visa issuance number from South Korea. Not my E2 Visa, but the Visa issuance number. Apparently these are two different things which I did not understand when I was sitting at home waiting for this. The reason it took so long was because Korea celebrated Thanksgiving and apparently the government offices took about a week off which made my issuance number come later than it would have had there been no vacation time.
So now what is going to happen is that I have to apply for my E2 Visa through the South Korean consulate in Vancouver with my Visa issuance number. If I was living in Vancouver I would have to go for an interview with the consulate, but because I'm outside I can send a CD of me answering the questions via a recording on my webcam. I send the CD with my E2 application form to the Korean consulate and they proceed to take 5 to 7 business days to process and then send my Visa to me. It is not necessarily faster for me to fly to Vancouver for the interview, because apparently the wait time will be the same whether I mail a recorded interview or not.
If I can get everything together today, make the CD, get a passport photo, everything... the very earliest, most optimistic time I would receive the Visa will be Monday. Monday, October 4th.
Now, that was the day I was supposed to start teaching in Korea. Unfortunately that is not the case anymore. My recruiter has tried to reassure me that the school wants me and will not replace my contract with another teacher, but because the last contract fell through I do not necessarily believe her. Yet I am going to try and believe her because it's less stressful that way.
I guess I'm back to being patient. And trying not to think about it every moment of the day. Which is hard because I'm not working right now and my life is kind of on hold for this. That gives me a lot of time to think. And I never know when I see someone if that will be the last time for a year. And I'm not even sure if I believe it's going to work out. Which will be really weird as I have said very heartfelt goodbyes to so many people. But I might be sticking around a bit longer. Who knows how much longer? Maybe I'll be here for Canadian Thanksgiving because I missed the one in Korea.
All this to say is I guess you could still help me by praying. Don't bother asking when I'm leaving, because I still do not know. And also someone could buy my vehicle. That could help too.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Forget Osan... that was so last week
Another quick update on my road to South Korea...
As I mentioned previously, my contract for a school in Osan was given to another teacher, so now I am going to be working in Boeun, South Korea, starting October 4th.
I still do not have a departure date set, but at least I know when I'm starting classes.
So again, if you ask me when I'm leaving... I still do not know. But my goal is to get there before October 4th.
Pray that my Visa comes through quickly and that this school doesn't give my contract away.
I'll let you all know when I know when I'm leaving. Thanks for keeping up with my journey!!
As I mentioned previously, my contract for a school in Osan was given to another teacher, so now I am going to be working in Boeun, South Korea, starting October 4th.
I still do not have a departure date set, but at least I know when I'm starting classes.
So again, if you ask me when I'm leaving... I still do not know. But my goal is to get there before October 4th.
Pray that my Visa comes through quickly and that this school doesn't give my contract away.
I'll let you all know when I know when I'm leaving. Thanks for keeping up with my journey!!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sometimes the road is bumpy
Well tonight before I fall asleep, if I can fall asleep, I decided to update you on yet another part of my journey to South Korea...
Today is a discussion about the bumpy part of the road.
On Friday I officially mailed via Fedex every single document that I need to have together to get to South Korea. A signed contract, notarized degree (by both a lawyer AND the Korean consulate in Vancouver), notarized police check (again by both authorities), passport photos, on and on. Everything was finally in order and good ol' Fedex picked everything up on Friday, delivering everything to South Korea in the wee hours of Monday morning. My recruitment agent (Pam) emailed me asking if we could chat today, which we did later in the evening, only to tell me that the school whose contract I negotiated and signed filled the position. I find this very strange. Yet Pam seems largely fine with it. Apparently this happens. My friend Courtney mentioned this could happen, and I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen because my documents were taking a bit longer than necessary to come together (especially the police check...).
So I am no longer going to be working at E-Bo. Young Talking Club in Osan.
Pam has already figured out yet another school for me to interview with, for less work and more money if you can believe it! She seems very confident that when I talk to them tomorrow they'll for sure hire me because they already sent her a contract for me. They just want to hear my voice. So I'm not going to hold my breath, but that does sound promising. Also, she seems confident that now that all my documents are in order and when a school accepts me all we do is hand them everything, I should be in a position with very little wait time.
This most likely pushes my proposed departure date back a bit. Earlier Pam was thinking I could be in Korea the week of September 13-17, now it's looking later in the month. Pushing things back a week, maybe two.
All in all, I'm trying not to freak out about this but to accept that this is apparently part of the system and no one seems to think this is weird in Korea. I'm concerned that my job in Edmonton ends on September 10th and my next one is starting later. And I'm trying not to assume that it's not going to work out, as the patterns for jobs has been for me as of late. And I'm going to try and appreciate having some down time before one of the largest changes in my life occurs. AND I'm going to still be thankful that things have really and truly come together in lightening speed so far, considering I first looked into going to South Korea the last week in July.
So if you're reading this, pray that things come together and that I don't go crazy. If you ask me when I'm leaving, the answer is still "I don't know for sure..." but I'm still en route to South Korea!
Today is a discussion about the bumpy part of the road.
On Friday I officially mailed via Fedex every single document that I need to have together to get to South Korea. A signed contract, notarized degree (by both a lawyer AND the Korean consulate in Vancouver), notarized police check (again by both authorities), passport photos, on and on. Everything was finally in order and good ol' Fedex picked everything up on Friday, delivering everything to South Korea in the wee hours of Monday morning. My recruitment agent (Pam) emailed me asking if we could chat today, which we did later in the evening, only to tell me that the school whose contract I negotiated and signed filled the position. I find this very strange. Yet Pam seems largely fine with it. Apparently this happens. My friend Courtney mentioned this could happen, and I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen because my documents were taking a bit longer than necessary to come together (especially the police check...).
So I am no longer going to be working at E-Bo. Young Talking Club in Osan.
Pam has already figured out yet another school for me to interview with, for less work and more money if you can believe it! She seems very confident that when I talk to them tomorrow they'll for sure hire me because they already sent her a contract for me. They just want to hear my voice. So I'm not going to hold my breath, but that does sound promising. Also, she seems confident that now that all my documents are in order and when a school accepts me all we do is hand them everything, I should be in a position with very little wait time.
This most likely pushes my proposed departure date back a bit. Earlier Pam was thinking I could be in Korea the week of September 13-17, now it's looking later in the month. Pushing things back a week, maybe two.
All in all, I'm trying not to freak out about this but to accept that this is apparently part of the system and no one seems to think this is weird in Korea. I'm concerned that my job in Edmonton ends on September 10th and my next one is starting later. And I'm trying not to assume that it's not going to work out, as the patterns for jobs has been for me as of late. And I'm going to try and appreciate having some down time before one of the largest changes in my life occurs. AND I'm going to still be thankful that things have really and truly come together in lightening speed so far, considering I first looked into going to South Korea the last week in July.
So if you're reading this, pray that things come together and that I don't go crazy. If you ask me when I'm leaving, the answer is still "I don't know for sure..." but I'm still en route to South Korea!
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